This invention relates to vehicles, such as cabriolet passenger motor vehicles, having a collapsible roof with a roof handhold.
In passenger motor vehicles having a fixed roof, roof handholds are frequently provided in the neighborhood of the seat positions. Such handholds are fixed in the interior of the vehicle to the longitudinal side roof frame members, or "longerons". Roof handholds are useful functional parts, of a vehicle serving primarily to assist passengers getting in and out of the vehicle.
Simple forms of conventional roof handholds include a plastic strip which is fastened at both ends to the roof longeron so that the plastic strip bulges into the vehicle interior to provide a handhold.
In modern passenger vehicles, spring-loaded hinged arcuate handles capable of being pivoted into recesses of the interior trim are commonly provided as roof handholds. These hinged handles are fixed rigid parts, capable of being moved into their recesses for reasons of safety when not in use.
"Convertible" vehicles having folding cabriolet roofs, however, have no fixed roof frame structure with stationary roof longerons. Consequently, the normal fixed support and attachment points for a roof handhold are absent. Moreover, conventional roof handhold designs would interfere with compact collapse of a cabriolet roof, and might cause damage to the roof. As a result, there are no conventional roof handholds for cabriolet vehicles.